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Glaring information vacuum caused by the closure of The Daily News
Media Monitoring
Project Zimbabwe
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2003-37
Monday September 15th - Sunday September 21st 2003
The glaring information
vacuum caused by the closure of The Daily News was greatly
felt during the week, as this left a large section of the public
at the mercy of simplistic and partisanship reporting of the government-controlled
media.
Only those with
the opportunity to tune into private radio stations such as SW Radio
Africa and Studio 7 and read independent weeklies managed to get
alternative viewpoints and analytical coverage of topical issues.
In fact, nothing aptly demonstrates the urgent need for an independent
daily paper more than the way the government-controlled media covered
the introduction of the bearers’ cheques, which is yet another government
stopgap measure to alleviate the persistent cash shortages. The
new cheques, which follow hard on the introduction of the ill-fated
travellers’ cheques, are in the denomination of $5,000, $10,000
and $20,000. According to The Herald (17/9) the cheques would
"be as good as cash and circulate freely and can be used
for all transactions as money".
The government-controlled
media merely welcomed the latest government move to arrest the shortage
of cash without asking pertinent questions. For example, they did
not challenge government on why it preferred printing cheques instead
of real notes if indeed it was using the same paper to print money.
Further, they did not explain why government would introduce the
cheques barely a week before availing the new bank notes, which
it previously claimed would solve the cash crisis. They were seemingly
blind to the fact that this latest development is an unwitting acknowledgement
by government that its intended introduction of the new $500 and
$1,000 bills, defied basic economics, especially when inflation
is currently pegged at 427 percent (The Business Tribune,
18/9).
In fact, the denominations of the cheques are clear evidence of
government’s acknowledgement of the gravity of the situation. All
along government has interestingly been turning a deaf ear to calls
by economists to print notes of higher denominations to arrest the
worsening cash crisis. As if to further demonstrate its failure
to handle the situation, government announced in The Herald
and Chronicle (20/9) that it would extend its earlier deadline
for replacing the old $500 bill with new one from September 26 to
December 31 this year. Once again economists had earlier advised
government against hurried replacement of old bills. However, with
no independent daily paper to timeously expose government’s propaganda,
the public will remain subjected to half-truths, distortions and
partisanship reporting.
Press
freedom under siege
The transformation
of the government-controlled media into slavish megaphones of government
was further exposed when they unashamedly celebrated the State’s closure
of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), which published the
country’s only independent daily newspaper, The Daily News and
a weekly The Daily News on Sunday. Unlike the private media
that condemned the closure and rightly described it as an assault
on freedom of expression, the government-controlled media welcomed
the move as a demonstration of government’s commitment to upholding
the rule of law. However, they omitted to inform their audiences of
the repressive nature of the Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which the State used to shut down ANZ.
As if that was not enough, they even encouraged government to take
more punitive measures against the company, oblivious to the fact
that freedom of expression and democracy were the ultimate victims
of such undemocratic acts. It was therefore not surprising that when
the government appointed Media and Information Commission (MIC) led
by Tafataona Mahoso refused to register ANZ on September 19th,
the government controlled media merely reported the matter without
any questioning.
At the beginning
of the week, The Herald and Chronicle (15/9) seemed
to agitate for the closure of ANZ publications when they reported
that The Daily News risked "having all its equipment
confiscated by the State", adding, "it is
also not automatic that the paper will be licensed if it decides
to register". The two papers then quoted unnamed "legal
experts" as having urged ANZ to "sell
its business to other people who could then apply for registration",
adding, "it’s difficult to see how an outlaw that has
been operating illegally can be registered". But then
the papers did not state which section of the repressive law the
"experts" were basing their argument on.
That same evening, 3FM (15/9,8pm) quoted Information Minister Jonathan
Moyo as having justified government stance against ANZ saying it
was "…a demonstration of the Zimbabwe government’s commitment
to the rule of law which the Strive Masiyiwa-owned paper purports
to champion". Just like its stable mates, the government-controlled
broadcaster merely churned out Moyo’s statements without analysing
the underlying implications of such an intolerant decision on the
freedom of the Press. That was left to SW Radio Africa (15/9). It
quoted MISA Information Officer, Rashweat Mukundu, as saying AIPPA
"is a vindictive law that was crafted specifically to
deal with the private media…" The MDC spokesman, Paul
Themba Nyathi, concurred saying AIPPA was used for "…oppressing
the people of Zimbabwe…"
But the government-controlled media would not budge. For
example, The Herald (16/9) comment, Action against Daily
News proper, commended the closure saying ANZ "should
have simply closed shop on its own and stood by its principle"
if it was opposed to AIPPA. The Chronicle (17/9) went further
and presented the Zimbabwean government as having been magnanimous
for not closing the ANZ earlier, saying this showed "how
tolerant the authorities in Zimbabwe are, even to dissenting voices
like The Daily News".
However, The Business Tribune (18/9) disagreed saying government
should have displayed "the same magnanimity it has shown
with errant banks and assisted it (ANZ) register".
The bias of the government-controlled media in covering the issue
was demonstrated by their failure to accord ANZ platform to explain
why they decided not to register with MIC in the first place. Only
the private media sought its position. Studio7 (15/9) quoted ANZ
Legal Advisor, Gugulethu Moyo, saying her company felt the registration
requirements violated their constitutional rights. Said Moyo: "If
you were challenging the death penalty you would not first really
expect to be hanged before you could actually challenge whether
this was constitutional or not." The Standard
(21/9) seemed to agree saying ANZ had taken "a principled
stand" because they felt AIPPA "impinged
on their freedom to exercise their profession freely".
Barely a day after The Herald and Chronicle (15/9)
suggested punitive measures that could be meted on ANZ, ZTV (16/9,
8pm) reported that, "the police are currently in
the process of removing property from the ANZ offices." The
Herald and Chronicle (17/9) carried similar reports and
like ZTV presented the seizure of ANZ property as the right course
of justice. Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena
was quoted saying the police had confiscated ANZ equipment because
they wanted to use it as exhibits in court. But the company’s chief
executive officer, Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, pointed out in the same
reports, that the police could use copies of newspapers published
in the past as evidence in their case against the company, in which
they are charging ANZ of operating illegally.
There was no attempt to fully analyse the legality of the police
action. In fact, it was such police action that prompted the company
to file an urgent High Court chamber application seeking to stop
them from removing company equipment.
When the courts ruled in favour of ANZ and ordered its re-opening
saying the Supreme Court ruling had not made the company an "illegal
operator", The Herald and the Chronicle
(19/9) interpreted it differently. They quoted unnamed "legal
experts" as having described the ruling "as
curious because it had a written judgement on it yet judgements
are written after the final order is granted". ZTV
(18/9, 8pm) buried the news deep in its bulletin.
However, any hopes of ANZ’s publications hitting the streets were
immediately shattered when The Herald and the Chronicle
(20/9) revealed that MIC had "unanimously agreed not
to register" the company, a day after the High Court
had granted it a provisional order to operate. MIC argued that ANZ
had failed "to meet the requirements of the law".
The coincidence of the MIC’s decision and the High Court ruling
was left begging for analysis. Further, the Zimpapers dailies did
not find MIC’s decision curious considering that it had previously
announced that it would take time for it to come up with a decision
on whether to register ANZ or not.This was only highlighted in The
Standard (21/9).
Besides pandering to the whims of the authorities, the government-controlled
media conveniently ignored the position of both civic and international
organisations on the issue. Their concerns were only carried in
the private media. For instance, Studio 7 (15/9) quoted Committee
for the Protection of Journalists official Anne Cooper who condemned
the closure of ANZ saying "the Committee to protect journalists
opposes registration requirements not just in Zimbabwe but in any
country where…you have to register with the government…"
South African newspaper editors and opposition parties were quoted
saying the closure was reminiscent of the apartheid era and exposed
government’s intolerance of criticism. The Financial Gazette
(18/9) quoted Zimbabwe Union of Journalists president Matthew Takaona
as having said the closure was "a disaster for the media
in Zimbabwe". University of Zimbabwe law lecturer,
Lovemore Madhuku, agreed saying the "diversity of opinion
will be severely curtailed", adding that in the absence
of The Daily News, government "will be encouraged
to do or not to do certain things because it will know for sure
that no one will be there to expose it", and that such
a scenario "may even worsen human rights violations in
Zimbabwe".
The Zimbabwe Independent quoted the Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights (ZLHR) lamenting the Supreme Court ruling saying it
"effectively resulted in the biggest assault on the right
to freedom of information in the history of our independence",
adding that, "Repression may therefore sadly have found
itself an ally against human rights defenders, in the form of the
judiciary". In its comment, the paper described the
closure of ANZ as "a political move designed to suppress
freedom of expression in Zimbabwe". It further pointed
out that the law government was using to justify its actions "is
a poorly drafted Act which is not only in conflict with Section
20 of the constitution but violates a number of international conventions
to which Zimbabwe is party".
However, ZTV (16/9,7am) revealed that government was seemingly not
perturbed by such condemnation when it quoted Moyo, as saying, "…MIC
would not be deterred by statements made by ANZ’s western sympathisers".
Commonwealth
summit
The closure of
ANZ came amid heated debate between South Africa and Australia, both
members of the Commonwealth troika on Zimbabwe, on whether Zimbabwe
should be invited to the Commonwealth meeting scheduled for December
in Nigeria. While Australia made it abundantly clear that Zimbabwe
should not be invited, South Africa on the other hand, was reportedly
trying to canvass support for the country to be allowed to attend
the meeting.
Predictably, the government-controlled media embraced South Africa’s
stance and simply dismissed Australia’s position as "racist",
arguing that its claims that the situation in the country continued
to deteriorate were baseless. As a result, they conveniently failed
to relate the closure of ANZ to the on-going human rights violations,
which is one of the reasons the country was suspended from the Commonwealth.
However, the private media did. For example, Studio 7 (16/9) reported
that "Western countries’ resolve to have Zimbabwe expelled
from the Commonwealth seems to have intensified" as a
result of the closure of ANZ.
The government-controlled media tried to downplay such repercussions
of government’s gross violation of freedom of the Press by giving
the impression that Zimbabwe has the backing of African countries
in its campaign for readmission into the Club. For example, ZTV (16/9,
8pm) reported; "South Africa has warned Australia against
using megaphone diplomacy in its attempts to bar President Robert
Mugabe from attending this year’s Commonwealth Summit in Nigeria."
A similar report appeared in The Herald (17/9). The paper,
in an editorialised AFP article, tried to narrowly attribute Australian
Premier John Howard’s resistance to have Zimbabwe invited to the meeting
to the land issue, claiming that that the country was being persecuted
"for its land reform exercise".
Subsequently, the paper (19/9) tried to divert attention from the
issues of good governance Howard was raising by quoting Mudenge giving
a lecture on the procedure used in inviting guests. Mudenge was quoted
attacking Howard as a racist who had "abandoned his senses,"
claiming that "only the host country had the prerogative
of inviting heads of State to the summit".
However, The Sunday Mirror (21/9) quoted the Commonwealth spokesman
Joel Kibazo dismissing Mudenge’s claim, saying, "It’s not
an issue who has the power, it is an issue of what is the common practice
in the Commonwealth". The paper also noted that it was
"unlikely that Nigeria will go against the grain and invite
President Mugabe to Abuja in December".
In fact, SW Radio Africa (15/9) and Studio 7 (16/9) had earlier quoted
the Commonwealth secretariat as saying President Mugabe would not
attend the meeting as Zimbabwe and Pakistan were still suspended from
the Commonwealth councils. The Financial Gazette corroborated
this and pointed out that even Nigeria, which Mudenge was pinning
his hopes on, had snubbed Zimbabwe. It quoted the Nigerian government
official, Gbenga Ashiru, as saying, "Zimbabwe and Pakistan
have not been invited to the Commonwealth summit because they are
still under suspension for violating the 1991 Harare Declaration.
There is no way the suspension of the two can be lifted before the
summit". The paper also pointed out that South Africa
had made a policy u-turn and was backing Nigeria’s stance on Zimbabwe.
It noted that South Africa’s apparent policy shift came "against
the back-drop of a police clampdown on Zimbabwe's only independent
daily newspaper, The Daily News".
In view of such revelations, The Zimbabwe Independent
then pointed out that the decision by Nigeria had "shattered
Harare's claims to solidarity among African, Asian, Caribbean and
Pacific nations and pushed Mugabe into further international isolation".
However, despite clear evidence that it was not only Howard who was
against Zimbabwe’s attendance but even the country’s perceived key
allies, The Herald (10/9) would not relent in its personal
and vitriolic attack on Howard. In its comment, Howard should go
hang, the paper described Howard’s comments on Zimbabwe’s as "reckless",
and smacked "of arrogance of the foulest degree and should
be condemned by all progressive people throughout the world".
Without considering the reasons behind Howard’s stance, the paper
further stated that Howard was "in a world of fantasy without
the foggiest idea where his authority begins and ends",
adding that Zimbabwe’s suspension from the Commonwealth "stinks
to heaven with racism". It ignored the fact that the
Commonwealth troika, which suspended Zimbabwe, had two African leaders.
Not to be outdone, The Sunday News (21/9) quoted "political
analysts" as having said the 54-nation grouping "will
disintegrate if the ‘White Commonwealth’ members continue with their
onslaught on members of the Club who are fighting to economically
empower their people by confronting colonial injustices".
An advocate of ZANU-PF policies, Lawton Hikwa, who was masqueraded
as an analyst, added, "If the white Commonwealth members
insist on excluding Zimbabwe from the meeting, I can foresee a situation
where Asian, African and Caribbean members boycott the meeting".
Hikwa said besides the racial motive behind Zimbabwe’s suspension,
" there is no reason whatsoever for the exclusion of Zimbabwe
from Abuja".
Other ZANU-PF aligned analysts such as Tafataona Mahoso and Rino Zhuwarara-
members of MIC, which refused to register ANZ - were also quoted in
the Chronicle (16/9) shamelessly glossing over the country’s
appalling human rights record. They were quoted claiming that Zimbabwe’s
prospects for readmission into the Commonwealth were bright and dismissed
reports of human rights violations as being "calculated
to trigger anti-Zimbabwe sentiment and more punishment at CHOGM".
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